


Dragon Ball H

by Epsilon110, Matty014, Titus621



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Bardock and Gine are alive, F/F, F/M, Female Frieza, Female Vegeta (Dragon Ball), Genderswap, Multi, Smart Son Goku (Dragon Ball)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2020-12-17 18:08:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21058718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epsilon110/pseuds/Epsilon110, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matty014/pseuds/Matty014, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titus621/pseuds/Titus621
Summary: One thought.That was all it took for the fate of the Saiyan race to change. A simple thought incited by a begging, desperate mother.Kakarot was destined to be great; born weak but with the will to train to be the best.Now, he has all the more reason to yearn for the top.





	1. The Butterfly

Bardock felt the weight of the capsule as he pushed his hand against it. “This one.” 

His mate, Gine, nodded, looking between it and Kakarot, their baby son, who was still in his incubator. 

“W-will it be okay for the incubator to travel?” she mumbled, hugging it a little closer. 

Bardock’s eyebrow twitched.  _ Of course it would be- why even… _

His face softened, a definitely un-Saiyan part of him bubbling up to the surface. Not that it mattered. 

If his hunch was right, being a ‘Saiyan’ wouldn’t mean anything soon enough. 

He had chosen Gine for her un-Saiyan attributes anyway, something about how… caring she could get was… 

It threw him for a loop every time. And he loved it. 

“He’ll be fine, being in the incubator is a plus anyway. It should hide his power levels further, small as they are…” he mumbled, tearing the capsule off its dock. “Let’s go.” 

“Wait.” Gine hesitated, looking at the other shuttles. “Are we not going with him?” 

“...” He placed the capsule down, a grim expression sneaking its way onto his face. “...We can’t, they can track our power levels.” 

“There... there needs to be a way. I’m not…” Gine sniffled. “I’m not ready to let Kakarot go…” 

“You need to let him go or he will  _ die _ ! Just like this planet!” he snarled. “You need to act like a Saiyan and do what needs to be done!” 

“No!” Gine sobbed. “There needs to be another way! Something else! Bardock, please…” 

He hated this. He hated every moment of it. How she could make him feel utter defeat even without lifting a finger against him. 

Then again, she could make him feel more than he thought he could. Than he thought any Saiyan could. 

“I know! I know…” His shoulders slumped a bit. “There really is no other way, the Scouters would locate our energy levels the moment we left the planet and shoot all of us out of the sky.” 

“Y-you can’t mean that...” Gine was hugging the incubator closer and closer to herself. “There- there  _ needs  _ to be a way to hide our power levels.” 

“Impossible, there’s no way to…” 

_ Unless…  _

“N-no way to...?” 

“...Fuck it, we’re going to die anyway. “ He walked up and ripped off another capsule from the dock. “If we’re going to go, we need to go  _ right now _ .” 

"A-alright!"

Both Saiyans ran, hopping from rock to rock until Bardock ground to a halt at the empty wasteland near the pod docks. "Here should be far enough…"

He opened both pods and leaned against one.  _ This is the stupidest, most asinine idea I ever had… _ His eyes landed on Kakarot.  _ But if there’s even a chance it gives him a better life… _

"What's the plan?" Gine asked, readjusting her hold on the incubator.

"...I'm going to wound you," he mumbled. "Hard enough to almost kill you, then do the same to myself." He rubbed a hand over his face. "And then hope to Kami they don't sense our dying energies as we make our way out."

"B-but we'd die!" she exclaimed. "Could we even survive the journey?"

"The pods would put us in suspended animation," Bardock explained. "We'd have to survive long enough to get help when we land though…"

"...Is this… our  _ only  _ option?" Gine whimpered. "I… I don't know if I can handle knowing Kakarot woke up to my dead body hugging him…"

"It's either this or we die with our planet," Bardock reminded her grimly. "Now, make your choice."

She sniffled. "Let's try i-"

Bardock had closed the distance, spearing his hand through her chest while hugging her close.

He didn't know what that stinging sensation was with his eyes, but he decided to ignore it. He needed to do this. For all of their sakes. 

"I… missed the vital organs," he whispered into her ear gently. "I'm sorry, this is going to be even more painful…"

Gine attempted to shake her head, tears running down her eyes with a bloody smile forming on her lips. "I-it’s okay…"

Bardock closed his eyes and pulled his hand out, grabbing her shoulder to keep her standing. "Okay, try to be calm, if you panic you might die before the pod puts us to rest"

She nodded weakly again, letting him guide her to the pod and place Kakarot's incubator on her lap. He nodded once and let the pod close up on her, the seal hissing and the pod started to levitate towards its target.

He jumped into his pod, staring at his bloodied hand.

It felt… heavier. 

He looked at his other and brought it down. 

* * *

Wine. 

The wine tasted great. 

Frieza let a smirk grow on her face as she leaned back on her seat, swirling her glass of wine as she looked out of the window of her spaceship, straight onto the home of those miserable little apes. 

Soon that eyesore would be gone. They had done their job, and now it was time to clean up. 

Her smirk grew wider, a chipper tune bubbling out of her body. Putting toys away was never this fun. 

And she... Oh, she was going to  _ enjoy  _ this. 

“Lady Frieza!” One of her radar operatives spoke up, coughing and sweating as he felt her gaze slowly locking on to his back. “T-there are two Saiyan pods leaving the planet, our guns are aimed and-” 

“Hold your fire,” she commanded, her tail smacking against her seat, almost denting it. “Power levels?” 

“A-almost nothing, sire.” 

“...Do not engage.” She sighed, looking at the two pods rush by on her screen. “We wouldn’t want to spook the monkeys by shooting down an empty pod now, would we?” 

“As you command.” 

* * *

Nappa tore through the halls of Castle Vegeta, steadying himself as the sweat poured down his brow.

How could Frieza betray them after all this time? They had been loyal soldiers and conquerors in her name, despite how bitter it made them to be under her thumb. At least she had given them battle and blood, so the Saiyans hadn’t complained that much. 

What had caused her to turn on them? Was she threatened? 

Eh, he didn’t really think about it too hard. His thoughts typically didn’t advance much far past ‘punching’. 

Nappa wheeled around the corner, dashing down the expansive hallway and smashing the door off its hinges. 

He let out a deep, satisfied sigh. “Ah, I’ve always wanted to do that.”

“Nappa?! What the hell?!”

He looked over at the short girl who was, up until a moment ago, doing pushups in the middle of her bedroom. She had stopped, distracted by the fact that her bedroom door was now embedded in the far wall. “Hey, Princess Vegeta! We gotta go!”

“What?!” she exclaimed indignantly. “I am far too busy to go anywhere right now.”

As much as he wanted to just leave her behind, he was still scared of her father. “Look, Frieza betrayed us and is going to destroy Vegeta. It sucks, I know, but that’s how it is.”

Princess Vegeta stared at him for a few moments. “Do you mean the planet, my father, the castle, or me?”

Nappa blinked. “Yes.”

“Oh.” Vegeta quickly ran up to him. “Well, then what are you waiting for, you incompetent oaf! Stop wasting time!”

Nappa led her down into the secret hangar bay beneath the castle and grabbed a pair of pods, quickly setting them down on the launching pad. “Alright, get in!”

Vegeta curled her nose in disgust. “Won’t they just detect our power levels?”

Nappa laughed. “Yeah… except these pods have technology that blocks scouters! They were supposed to be deployed to the rest of the Saiyan warriors tomorrow. They could probably have saved a bunch of lives if they were just one day faster!” He rubbed his nose. “Ha…  _ tragic _ .”

“Where is everyone else?” she protested. “Where is father?”

Nappa shrugged. “Looks like it’s just you and me, kid.”

The princess sighed, then climbed in a pod. “I’ll kill Freiza for this.”

“That’s the spirit!” Nappa exclaimed as he got into his own pod. “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

The ships sealed up with a hiss and were summarily launched skyward, streaking over the planet and out of the atmosphere. Just like they had hoped, the pods passed undetected between Freiza’s blockade and before long, they were in deep space.

Suddenly, a bright light illuminated their pods and both Saiyans whipped around, just in time to see the planet consumed by a massive explosion.

There was silence.

It was at this point that Nappa realized he had no idea where they were going.

Oh well.

“Hey Vegeta, wanna sing a song? It’ll help pass the time!”

“We just saw our home explode! My father! More importantly, my throne and my birthright!” Vegeta yelled. “No, I don’t want to  _ sing a song _ !”

“99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer…”

“...”

“God dammit, Nappa.”

* * *

Gohan sighed, cracking his back and wincing as the discs popped back into alignment. It had been a long day of tilling the fields of his mountain farm, but it would be worth it, come next harvest. The radishes were growing in droves since he’d gotten that new fertilizer from town. 

With a smile, he stared at the sky as the sun began to dip below the horizon. What a beautiful day, even the stars were beginning to come out! 

Wait… Was that a shooting star?

_ Just my luck! Oh, now what should I wish for… I do miss old Roshi and our lessons. It would be nice to have some company out here. _

The star seemed to twinkle brighter in response and Gohan smiled a little wider, removing his work gloves and smoothing out the ends of his mustache. 

What a beautiful day.

The aged man turned away from the shooting star and started walking slowly back to his small home.

That’s when he heard it: a boom as if thunder was rolling throughout the mountains. Gohan whipped around, quickly scanning the cloudless sky, but all he could see was the twinkling of the shooting star and… was it getting… closer?

Suddenly the shooting star seemed to split into two, both lights starting to glow crimson as if they were ablaze. 

“That’s a… meteor!?” Gohan began jogging toward his home, his body groaning and protesting with every step.  _ Curse these old bones, why did I ever stop training!?  _ He moved his body faster, rushing into the small, domed house at the edge of his fields and going straight for his bed. He searched underneath until his hands felt a small, wooden box. 

Opening it cautiously, Gohan sighed as the familiar orange glow of the four-star dragon ball gleamed inside. He quickly grabbed the ball, stuffing it inside a pack by the door along with some bread, cheese, and fruit. Just as the man was about to leave, he turned to the small potted plant he had growing in his windowsill.  _ I can’t believe I almost forgot… _

With careful fingers, Gohan plucked four beans from the plant and wrapped them gingerly in a handkerchief before stowing them deep inside a pocket in his shirt. At least if the plant died, he could start over with these. Kami knows Korin would rip him a new one if he found out that Gohan needed fresh beans. He wasn’t even sure he could make it to the top of Korin’s tower to collect more. 

The air began to whistle as the objects in the sky drew closer. Gohan peered outside, noticing that they seemed to be heading straight for the ravine just south of his home. That being said, he wasn’t going to take any chances. Gohan ducked back into his home and grabbed his walking stick just as the ground rumbled wildly underfoot. 

Whatever it had was just crashed down.

The old man slung his pack across his body and took the walking stick in one hand. Whatever had landed, he was too curious to not at least take a peek before calling Nimbus. 

Although… just to be safe…

“Flying Nimbus!”

It was hard to describe exactly what Nimbus sounded like, but if Gohan had to pick an adjective, it would be puttering; almost like the old car he had owned that had died some years back.

The cloud whizzed overhead before dropping low, making it easier for Gohan to step on. “Thank you, old friend. I’d like to investigate where those comets just landed, could you take me there?”

In response, Nimbus rose quickly and began flying to the south. As Gohan drew closer, he noticed a few felled trees that must have gotten knocked over by the mysterious projectiles. 

_ Such a shame, but what could have fallen? _

Nimbus slowly continued toward the impact zones, and that’s when Gohan was able to get his first real glimpse of what had fallen.

From a distance, they didn’t look like anything, just debris in a pile of dirt. But upon closer inspections Gohan noted that the objects were made of metal. In fact, they seemed to be almost completely smooth spheres. 

“Nimbus, take me as close as you can.”

With some trepidation, the cloud got right up to the two orbs, each of which was roughly the size of a small car, and came to a stop in front of one. Gohan noticed at that point that there seemed to be something of a bubble-shaped window on the front. Just as he went to peer inside, the orb began hissing and some sort of hatch began to lift open. 

The old man stumbled back as the orb opened up to reveal… a woman? Gohan gulped. She was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen… and she was wounded?

“Miss!” Gohan yelled as he rushed forward, spotting the bleeding hole in her abdomen. “Miss, what happened?”

The woman’s eyes fluttered open, and her face turned immediately to shock, then fury as she clutched some stranger metal orb closer. “W-where am I?!”

Gohan was about to respond when she started coughing up blood. 

“Miss, please,” Gohan exclaimed as he fished in his shirt for the Senzu beans. “Please, you’re hurt. Take this! You’ll feel better after, I promise.”

The woman stared him down for what felt like an eternity before reaching her hand out. 

Gohan sighed in relief as he placed the bean in her outstretched hand. She snatched it away quickly and eyed it suspiciously before popping it into her mouth. 

A couple of bites and she swallowed it down, wincing at the flavor no doubt. “Now wh-“ she gasped as the color returned to her face. Her hands flew to the hole in the strange armored tunic she was wearing, wiping away the dried blood and finding that her abdomen was smooth and intact. “How…” 

She immediately perked up. “Bardock!” 

The woman practically flew out of the strange pod, still clutching the strange object in her arms. She banged on the second pod and stepped back as it hissed open. Inside, Gohan was able to see a rather large man with his own gruesome injury.

“Bardock!?” The woman knelt down and placed the strange object just next to the man. “Bardock, you need to wake up now.” She started patting his face gently, then slapped it with enough force to make Gohan flinch. “Wake up now, Bardock!”

She turned back to the old man. “Do you have any more of those things?”

“I-”

“I need one, now! He’s going to die without it!” Her eyes were full of desperation as she stared daggers at him.

Gohan quickly fished out a second Senzu bean and tossed it over to the frankly terrifying beauty. She snatched it out of the air and popped it into her own mouth, chewing quickly before opening the unconscious man’s mouth and kissing him. 

Wait no,  _ feeding _ him. Gohan watched as the woman leaned back, forcing the man- Bardock? Was that his name?  _ Bardock’s _ mouth shut and massaging his throat to force him to swallow. The woman leaned back, grabbing onto the small object and watching the unconscious man intensely. 

Another small eternity passed, and Gohan furrowed his brow. Perhaps the damage to the man was too severe?

“Miss, I don’t thi-”

Suddenly the Bardock’s eyes shot open and he began coughing, clutching at his abdomen and staring around the surrounding area in shock. “Gine, what? Where?”

The woman, Gine by the sound of it, sighed in relief. “We made it, Bardock. We’re safe.”

“Safe…” Bardock leaned back, shutting his eyes momentarily. He then stiffened and leaned back forward. “Kakarot, is he-”

Gine nodded. “He’s safe too.”

The muscled man exhaled slowly. “Good. How are we healed?”

“Ask him,” Gine replied, gesturing to Gohan. 

Bardock’s attention finally landed on the old man, and Gohan felt himself being scrutinized intensely.The young man reached up to his ear before grimacing and shaking his head. With a grunt, his grimace turned into a smirk. “Well then, it looks like we owe you our gratitude, old man.”

“T-think nothing of it.”

“What is your name, stranger?” Bardock stood up and stretched, flexing his astoundingly muscular body. Gohan gulped as he sensed an overwhelming amount of power flowing off the strange man.

“Gohan.”

Bardock nodded. “Gohan, interesting. Tell me, Gohan. What planet is this?”

“Planet?” Gohan cocked an eyebrow. “Well, it’s Earth, son.”

Gine gasped. “We made it.”

“Hmm, yeah. We made it.” Bardock turned back to Gohan. “Is there anyone else nearby? Any other settlements?”

Gohan shook his head. “It’s just me out here. Nearest village is miles away.”  _ Shoot, why would I say that? _

“Good, that is good news. Now, Gohan, how was it that you were able to heal us?”

The older man hesitated before producing his two remaining Senzu beans. “These. If you like, I can explain more at my home?” He prayed to Kami above that they would take his offer and just eat a meal with him peacefully. 

Bardock sized him up before glancing back at Gine, the two sharing a wordless conversation and finally nodding. “Fine, we’ll join you. But if I detect even a hint of trickery, I’ll kill you and anyone else you might send after us.”

“Trickery?” Gohan’s stomach dropped. He had just casually threatened Gohan’s life. “I promise, no trickery. Just a meal and some conversation, I swear.”

Gine smiled. “Sounds good to me.”

“Fine, let’s go.”

The old man hid his relief and nodded to Nimbus. “You can go, I’ve got it from here.” The cloud zipped away and Gohan turned back to the two young people. “Just up the hill here, follow me.”

  
  



	2. The Hermit

Gohan turned the burner on and placed the kettle over the small flame. “There we go.” He peered out the window where Flying Nimbus was still hovering in wait. “You can return to Kame house now, old friend. I’m sure old Roshi is wondering where you flew off to.”

The cloud hovered in place for a moment longer before zipping away. 

“Interesting cloud you have there, old man,” Bardock commented, bringing Gohan back to earth as he remembered the two foreigners and baby that were sitting at his coffee table. “Is that… normal for this planet?”

Gohan smiled fondly at some old memories attached to the cloud. “No, I’m afraid Nimbus is a special case. It can only be ridden by one deemed ‘pure of heart’.”

Bardock frowned. “Seems like a weird bar to set, but whatever. Your cloud, your rules.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily call Nimbus _ mine _, but so far I haven’t found another like it. But to be honest, I’m far more curious as to you and your wife and child.”

Gine tensed, pausing her playing with the child. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, I’ve never met an alien before. If that’s… what you all are, that is. If I’m being honest I am completely out of my depth right now.”

“Really?” Bardock asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I’ve met plenty of aliens.”

Gohan gasped. “That’s incredible.”

“...Course, I’ve killed most of them, but that’s not really relevant to the conversation.”

“Oh.” Gohan jumped as the kettle began screaming. 

The baby let out a small cry imitating the noise. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten the little one,” Gohan apologized. “I just wanted to make some tea.”

Gine waved her hand as the baby began gurgling with laughter. “It’s okay, I think Kakarot just thought it was a scream. See? He’s laughing, he likes it.”

_ Well, that’s not concerning. _Gohan stuffed down his concern and poured the tea. “So… What planet are you from?”

Bardock narrowed his eyes. “Doesn’t really matter. Pretty sure it doesn’t exist anymore anyway.”

“What?! But- is that why you came here?”

Gine nodded sadly. “I guess you could say we’re fugitives.”

“I had a vision of it after coming into contact with a race of precognitive beings on one of my scouting missions.”

“What?!” Gine snapped to Bardock “You told me it was a hunch!” 

“...Does it really matter at this point?” Bardock asked, turning to his mate. 

“I… suppose not.” 

Gohan nodded knowingly. “Sounds crazy, but please, go on.”

“Right?!” Bardock shouted. “It’s such bullshit! But I know what I saw, and it makes sense. Frieza has always treated our people as less than dirt, but I think she actually fears us.”

“That’s troubling… do you think this Frieza would follow you here?”

Bardock shook his head. “I don’t think so. We injured ourselves so that her scouters wouldn’t pick up our power levels. Considering they didn’t blast us as soon as we left the atmosphere, I’d say we’re safe.”

Gohan frowned. “Power levels?”

“I’m not surprised. I picked this planet because it wasn’t as developed as ours.”

The older man decided to let the slight go. 

“Power Levels are how we as Saiyans and soldiers in the Frieza Force calculated a person’s total battle capacity. You earthlings might have some other term for it,” he waved his hand dismissively, “but that’s the gist of it.”

Gohan stroked his mustache pensively. “That sounds an awful lot like Ki.”

Gine frowned. “Key? Like the thing you use to unlock doors?”

He smiled kindly. “No, my dear. _ Ki _. It is the unifying life force that flows through and binds the universe, and if one can focus it properly, you can utilize it to increase your strength.”

“So it’s… magic?”

Bardock huffed. “Sounds fake.”

“I assure you,” Gohan replied, “it is very real. Observe!” He began to focus his ki just outside of his body, condensing it until it began to glow and hum with energy. A small orb of blue light formed, illuminating the small room.

The dark-haired man gasped. “Hold just a moment, that’s…” He raised his own hand and created a similar, glowing yellow orb of light just above his own palm.

Gohan nodded. “That’s right, on our world that’s what we’d call Ki.”

“Incredible…” Bardock commented. “To think this race wasn’t even on Frieza’s radar and they’ve grasped the concept of energy like this…”

“Well, I have to say, you two have some of the highest concentrations of Ki I’ve ever seen.”

Bardock’s eyebrows shot up. “What the hell are you talking about, old man? You can’t read power levels without a scouter.”

“Well I don’t know about all that, but I can just tell by being around you two that your power is incredible.”

“Is it possible to learn this ability?” Bardock jumped up. “I had to destroy my scouter, but being able to sense power levels…”

Gine nodded. “We’d be able to anticipate Frieza if she ever tried to chase us down!”

Bardock grinned. “It seems this planet has more to offer than just sanctuary.”

“Well, if you two would like,” Gohan started, “I’d be happy to let you stay here until you get on your feet. Although, if you’re going to be staying here, you might want to get rid of the armor and put on something more comfortable.”

“I am most comfortable when I am impervious to most physical forms of attack.”

Gine sighed. “We’ll get right on that, thank you, Gohan.”

* * *

“Brock!?” Bardock spluttered. “What kind of- What’s wrong with my name!?” 

Gine suppressed a giggle as Gohan laid out the fresh clothes from the store. Since the Saiyans had come to stay with the older man, he had commented multiple times that his farming productivity had improved dramatically. She supposed that it had something to do with the fact that Gohan was just one man, and having two able-bodied people-especially two able-bodied Saiyans that were apparently stronger than the average Earthling-working on the farm helped considerably.

They had worked hard enough and produced a significantly earlier harvest so that Gohan was able to go into town and purchase one of the few truly impressive things that Gine had seen on this planet; DynoCaps. The fact that this Capsule Corporation had managed to consolidate an entire two-bedroom home into an object roughly the size of a finger was mindblowing. Honestly, it put most of the Frieza tech to shame. 

“Well, I’m afraid that ‘Bardock’ isn’t a very common name around here,” Gohan said with a sympathetic smile. 

Bardock huffed. “It’s a proud, Saiyan name.”

“It sounds like a root vegetable native to this planet,” Gine commented, pointing to an entry in one of Gohan’s cookbooks. “Mine too, actually.”

The male Saiyan rose an eyebrow. “Wait, really?” He walked over to the cookbook where Gine pointed out a variety of ingredients such as burdock, negi, and carrots. “Well, I’ll be damned.” 

“Plus, it ought to help you blend in more, don’t you think?” Gine gave her mate a wink, eliciting a small grumble from him, but at least it was an accepting grumble.

“What about you and Kakarot?” 

"Well, since I’m supposed to be Gohan’s daughter, we figured my name didn't sound that far off actually, so we went with Gina. Then we decided on Goku for Kakarot.”

Bardock stroked his chin. “Goku… so with the last names these humans have, it'd be Son Goku.” He nodded, satisfied. “Well, I don’t _ hate _ it, so it’ll do. Speaking of, how is he doing? He’s adjusting to this planet’s gravity alright?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary so far, he mostly just sleeps, eats, or cries.” Gine shrugged. “He’s an average baby boy.”

Her mate frowned. “I’m concerned about these first few months, his body hasn’t developed any antibodies to combat the illnesses here yet, so if he gets sick we could be in trouble.” He turned to Gohan. “How do your plants pollinate?”

“Well, we have bees-um, insects? They collect pollen and distribute it as they collect more. There are other ways, but around these parts, that’s the most common.” 

Bardock nodded, showing that he understood the concept. “Similar to our planet- the incubator should’ve given him the necessary hormones to keep him from reacting badly to it.” he sighed. “I should’ve thought about that before- sending him to this planet alone. His immune system might have failed- Saiyan or not.” 

Gine felt a swell of affection for her mate, her _ husband _ , as Gohan put it. When he had asked if they were married, her mind had immediately jumped to food. Weird reaction considering the abstract concept, but then again; they _ were _ hungry. “He’ll be fine _ Brock _, just like you said. He’s a Saiyan. He is a fighter.” 

Bardock grumbled lightly, and if Gine was to squint and believe she could see just the hint of a blush forming on his cheeks. 

She smiled. Must be the planet that was getting to him, or the weeks of not genociding planets were slowly letting him peel the walls back and show his emotions again. The same ones she had sensed when He had chosen her as his mate. 

_ Guess ‘proposed’ now… _

“Gohan.” Bardock shifted his attention back to the kind old man, trying to move away from the topic. “You still haven’t told us about this ‘ki’ sensing that you described many moons ago-”

“Days, Bardock, they call it days here,” Gine chided, causing him to grumble almost cutely. 

“Yes, many _ days _ ago- and since then we have helped you with the fieldwork. When are you going to teach us how to sense it?” he finished, almost grunting. 

“A-ah- right, that- sorry,” Gohan muttered, shrinking at Bardock’s tone. “Sorry- I was trying to contact one of my friends- Master Roshi, to come and teach you two.” He gulped. “Y-you see, I’m not the best teacher, but he is a great one that thought me everything I know” 

“I see-” Bardock pinched his chin. “Would you be able to point to his residence? From the sky?” 

“Oh- uh sure, are you going to follow me on Nimbus with your ships?” 

Bardock and Gine shared a look before bursting out into laughter. Gine was the first to compose herself. “Don’t worry Gohan, we’ll be able to keep up just fine.”

* * *

The Saiyan warrior had to admit he got some satisfaction at the shocked expression on Gohan’s face when he and Gine had started floating in the air to accompany him to this ‘Master Roshi’s’ house. 

He _ also _ had to admit that this planet was… surprisingly beautiful. Normally that wouldn’t be a part of his vocabulary-save for describing Gine-but flying over the mountains and out toward the vast, blue ocean, it was undeniable. 

There was a giggle from behind him and when he glanced back he noticed Gine flying low so that Kaka-_ Goku _ could play with the spray from the water as their energy disrupted the surface. He needed to get used to referring to him as Goku to preserve their cover. She caught his eye for just a moment, offering him a tender smile and he felt his heart clench in spite of himself.

Damn, he loved that woman.

“We’re just up ahead!” Gohan announced, drawing Bardock’s attention forward again. He looked around, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see anything.

He cleared his throat. “Where?!”

Gohan pointed and _ then _ he could see it. There was a tiny island jutting up in the middle of the ocean, sitting smack dab in the middle of nowhere. Atop the island was a tiny, pink house that defied all logic or reason. Who would choose to be this isolated?

“What is he, some kind of hermit!?” Gine asked.

Gohan chuckled. “Yes! In fact, he refers to himself as the ‘Turtle Hermit’!”

_ Well, that’s not bizarre. _

Gohan’s cloud flew in low, allowing the older man to dismount safely and followed closely by the two Saiyan parents and their son.

The old man smiled at the cloud again. “Thank you, old friend, you’ve been very kind to allow me to borrow you.”

With a sort of… bow? The cloud dipped once before zipping off again.

“So, Gohan, is anyone even here?” Bardock crossed his arms, actually enjoying the warmth of the sun on his skin.

With a shrug, Gohan moved toward the door. “I’ll check, one moment. Master!? Master Roshi!? Are you home?”

“He’s taking a nap right now,” came a deep voice from the shore. When the small group turned, Goku immediately began gurgling with joy at the sight of a rather impressive-sized creature.

Gohan chuckled happily. “Turtle! Old friend, it’s good to see you! How are you holding up?”

“Alright, I guess.” The animal bobbed its head. “Who are your friends?”

“Well, this is Bardock and his wife, Gine. And this young man is Kakarot,” he finished, pointing to the babbling toddler.

Bardock’s eyebrows shot up. “Our real names? You know this creature?”

“Oh yes,” Gohan replied. “Turtle is a dear friend. I trust him very much. There is no need to fear for secrecy from him or Master Roshi.”

The warrior sized Gohan up for a moment. The man hadn’t led them astray thus far… “Alright. I trust you, then.”

A small crash came from inside the small house, followed by a howl from what Bardock assumed was a man.

“Turtle! Where’d I put those pain relievers!?”

The creature chuckled. “Looks like he’s awake now.”

With a shudder and the sound of rapidly descending footsteps, a wizened, bald head came peering out from the screen door. “Turtle, do you remembe- Oh!” The tinted lenses over his eyes drooped momentarily. “Gohan? Is that you!?” 

“It is, Master, it’s very good to see you!” 

The two men shared a happy embrace before Gohan stepped back and gestured to the Saiyans. “I’d like to introduce you, Master. This is Bardock, Gine, and their son, Kakarot.”

Immediately, the old man seemed to zero in on Gine, surging forward to take her hand and plant a kiss on it. “Well, helloooo!” He started cackling in a way that seemed to amuse both Gine and Goku.

“Master…” Gohan muttered with a reproachful tone. “I wouldn’t.”

“Eh?” Roshi turned to his pupil. “What are you talking about, I’m just greeting our guests! Our…” he gulped, stealing a glance at Gine’s curves rather obviously. “...guests.”

Bardock felt his blood boil just a bit, but Gine put a placating hand on his shoulder. 

“Now, Mister Roshi,” she started in a sweet tone. “I hope you weren’t thinking of objectifying me.” Her aura snapped to life and even _ Bardock _ could sense the power coming off her. “I am a mother, after all.”

Roshi gulped and immediately backed up a few steps, his demeanor turning from lecherous, to fearful, to curious in an instant. “...Gohan, where did you say these three were from?”

Gohan chuckled. “It’s a long story. Do you think we could come inside? We have a lot to discuss.”

* * *

“Aliens.”

Bardock and Gine nodded.

“But you look so… human?”

Gine shrugged, letting the tail that she had wrapped around her waist as her husband did unfurl and wave at the old man.

Roshi hummed quietly. It had been a pleasant surprise, seeing that the old pervert had a serious side to him. Though, Gine suspected he was just giving her a healthy distance after she had threatened him.

Bardock was still giving him a death glare. “Looking at your society, and the general age of this planet… Humanity came _ after _ Saiyans. Humans look like _ Saiyans _, not the other way around.” 

Gine giggled and patted his cheek. “It’s fine Bardock.” 

He grumbled. 

“I-In any case…” Roshi mumbled, adjusting his sunglasses. “What did you want from me?- You two are already stronger than me by… I can’t even put a number on it, it’s like comparing a pebble to a mountain.” 

Bardock smiled pridefully. “We want to learn how to sense power levels, so we know when an adversary chases us down to this planet.” 

“You…” Roshi hummed, tugging at his own beard. “You might want to learn how to suppress your power levels too then. Only Korrin can teach you that.” 

“Korrin?” Bardock mumbled, then snapped to Gohan. “Why are you all giving us the run-around? I thought we had a deal.” 

“Korrin?! Roshi you can’t truly mean it, that is a sacred place!” Gohan exclaimed, ignoring the Saiyan. 

“It is true…” Roshi mumbled before starting to laugh maniacally. “But if they have enemies powerful enough to cause a threat- their fight could destroy the earth. I humbly request that you go learn how to suppress your power levels so to not attract attention.” 

Bardock grunted and looked Gine for help. 

She smiled, knowing that he was just too prideful of a Saiyan to admit that they needed all the help they could get. Even if she told them they would do it- her own pride was screaming at her to get something in return. 

“...We accept. On one condition.” She lifted Goku up over her head, the toddler giggling and waving around. “You train Goku when he is of age the best way humans can.”

Roshi huffed. “I’m too old for training youngsters. But if it will get you to suppress your power and get the spotlight away from earth, sure.” 

* * *

“How is that… just standing there-” Bardock muttered as he stared at the massive outpost standing on a pillar of marble jutting straight out of the earth, too thin to ever support such a structure that high up. “There is no hover technology either-”

The inner scientist in him kicked in and he sped up, circling around the structure, knocking on its surface lightly. “Fascinating…“

“Bardock! Study later!” Gine called out to him, landing on the structure Gohan and Roshi following her on the Nimbus, the turtle hermit hanging on for dear life to the gentleman that had opened his home to the two Saiyans.

“Korrin, sorry to have inconvenienced you, but we need your help” Gohan called out, looking around the outpost. 

Bardock landed on the structure from the other side, walking towards Gine slowly, observing how the ground beneath him didn’t even sway with the winds, nor his motions. “Truly fascinating.” 

“Gohan,” came a tired voice, one that had been used for eons with the weight it held. “Why have you brought these strangers to my lookout?” 

A floating cat came into view, hovering towards the five guests. 

“Welcome to my tower.” 

_ “Did that cat just _ ** _talk_ ** _ ?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Matty: thanks for the wait, hope you all enjoy!
> 
> Epsi: HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
> 
> Titus: I didn't do anything this chapter! :)


	3. The Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku is old enough to start his training

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so sorry it's been so long

Gine sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow as she took in the warm, summer day. It was times like these that she truly appreciated Earth; on Vegeta, the air was warmer than this for half the year, with the other half being quite cold compared to the Earth winters. A far more extreme climate that had made the Saiyans tougher and hardened them into warriors. 

She thought back to her childhood, while some of the other Saiyan children with lower power levels such as her own were sent away to conquer weaker planets, she had stayed behind to learn to provide for the community. That wasn’t to say she was completely untrained; the Saiyans prioritized strength above all else, after all. 

With a snort, Gine wondered what her training master would have thought of the way she and Bardock were raising their own son.

Speaking of… 

“Goku! Bardock! It’s time for lunch!”

There was a rumble like thunder in the distance.

“If you don’t hurry back I’m eating all the fish myself!”

The thunder stopped and the ground began to tremble slightly as two blurs came into view. One tall, muscled, and smiling broadly as he raced ahead of what looked like his smaller, nearly identical twin.

“Dad! No fair!”

Bardock laughed heartily as he got to Gine first. “Life isn’t fair, kiddo, get used to it.”

Goku came to a halt, his tail lashing agitatedly as he stared down his father. Gine still couldn’t believe how big he had gotten. Fourteen years had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye and now her son was already as tall as she was.

“You sucker-punched me and you know it!” Goku frowned but Gine could tell he wasn’t actually upset. These sparring matches with his father were the best part of his day. He always came home bruised, dirty, and smiling like he was the happiest boy on the planet.

It was nice up in the mountains where Gohan had let them make their home. They had long since purchased a third Capsule Corp home with their earnings, something that had become necessary as Goku had grown. Now their trio of small homes sat comfortably nestled in the hills, far away from anyone aside from the local wildlife. It gave them plenty of land to cultivate and plenty of space for Bardock to teach Goku about his Saiyan heritage the best way he knew how; by fighting.

A lot.

Bardock shoved his son playfully. “Well, it wouldn’t be so easy if you weren’t so distracted by food. I swear you’re going to eat us into poverty.”

“But Mom said fish! I  _ love _ fish!”

Gine laughed. “You love  _ everything _ .”

The boy shrugged. “I thought it was a good thing that I had a ‘Saiyan appetite’.”

“Oh look at you with the smartass comebacks,” Bardock teased. “Get your butt inside and wash up, alright? You reek.”

Goku stuck his tongue out as he raced away. “You’re one to talk!”

“Why you little-”

All it took was a surprise kiss on the neck from Gine to calm his mock outrage. 

“Personally, dear, I like it when you get a little  _ dirty. _ ”

Bardock blushed, a reaction only Gine had ever managed to elicit from him. “Do you now?”

“I do,” she replied, moving a hand over his chest. “...but your son is right, you stink. Go shower.” She pecked her husband on the cheek once more before sticking her tongue out and walking back to the house, leaving Bardock to flounder a bit before sulking off to bathe as well.

* * *

Even after all these years, it impressed Gohan to no end at the pure magnitude of a Saiyan appetite. Goku, especially, seemed to be a bottomless pit that could put down more food than the other three members of their little family combined. 

The boy was fifteen now, according to his parents. It had been hard for them to figure out what date his birthday would be on Earth, so they had picked April sixteenth, figuring that he had been roughly a year old by Earth metrics when the Saiyans had landed. 

A teenager.

Gohan smiled fondly, catching Goku’s eye mid-bite and forcing the boy to chew and swallow before he could return the smile. As he grew, Gohan had feared the boy would be aggressive and gruff like his father, but just as Bardock had tempered a bit and grown to be a relatively relaxed man with a more quiet intensity, so too had Goku grown from an aggressive young child into a kind-hearted, inquisitive, and curious young man. There was no doubt much of that had to do with his mother, but Gohan liked to think that all those nights of telling Goku bedtime stories and teaching him to farm may have helped a bit too. 

He loved that boy fiercely.

This was why the conversation he had been putting off- that they  _ all _ had been putting off for so long was one he dreaded. Their talk the previous night had been an intense one, and both parents had decided that it would be best for Gohan to introduce the topic.

“Goku?”

The boy swallowed another alarmingly large mouthful of fish and turned to Gohan. “Hey, Grandpa, what’s up?”

“Well, your parents and I have a proposition for you.”

Goku tilted his head. “What kind of proposition? Because if it’s the farming festival next month I promise to lay off, I swear I didn’t know that food wasn’t free last year! There were no vendors, it was all just sitting there!”

“Goku, no,” Gohan chuckled, “no this isn’t about the farming festival. This has to do with a request that your parents and I made some time ago to an old friend of mine.”

The boy blinked. “Oh, well, sure! What kind of request?”

“It might feel like second nature to you now, but do you remember the work we did years ago when you were a child? To both sense others’ as well as hide your own Ki?”

Goku nodded. “Yeah?”

“Well, when your parents learned that power, they also asked something of the man who helped them learn it. My old martial arts teacher, Master Roshi.”

The boy’s eyes widened. 

“See, you’ve learned so much from your father. Heck, I’m reasonably certain you’re the strongest boy on the planet with all you’ve learned.”

Goku blushed. “Aw, shucks. Thanks, Grandpa.”

_ ‘It’s good to see he’s still humble.’ _ Gohan smiled proudly. “Well, you’ve learned to fight like a Saiyan, but we felt that since you’re among Earthlings, it would benefit you to learn to fight as one.”

“Oh…” Goku frowned. “That makes sense, I guess.”

Gohan sighed. “The… the part about this that is hard for all of us I suppose, is that you’ll have to go away to train with Master Roshi.”

“...Oh…” 

Gohan looked to Gine and Bardock for support, both of whom looked as sad as their son.

Just as Gohan was about to speak, Goku looked up, meeting the old man’s eyes. “In that case… I promise to work as hard as I can to make you all proud.”

There was a surge of affection for his adopted grandson and Gohan reached forward to clasp Goku’s hand. “I know you will, son. We all know.”

“We’re going to miss you, is all. I guess when I asked Roshi to train you I didn’t consider how hard it would be to let you go.” Gine wiped the corner of her eye

Bardock’s shoulder sagged. “I… This is a normal rite of passage for Saiyans—going away, that is—but I’ll admit that Earthling sentimentality  _ has _ worn on me a bit.” He gave his son a rueful smile. “I’m going to miss you. And you’ve already made me as proud as can be,  _ Kakarot _ .”

Goku smiled, tears forming in the corner of his eyes. They all knew that Bardock was being truly sincere when he used the boy’s Saiyan name.

* * *

The way to Master Roshi’s house was pretty long, forcing Goku and his family to fly over both land and sea. Goku spent a good amount of that time giving his grandfather a bit of a scare as he raced the Flying Nimbus, the boy and the cloud taking turns doing flips and corkscrews. Although that was cut short after a brief scolding from Gine.

Goku respected his father’s strength and intelligence, his grandfather’s wisdom and patience, but he had learned a long time ago to both respect and fear his mother’s wrath.

After a few hours of flying slow enough to keep pace with Nimbus, with only the blue ocean for miles and miles, a small speck on the horizon came into view. After some minutes, that speck grew into a tiny island that featured only a small house and a trio of palm trees.

“Wait, someone lives  _ here?” _ Goku asked incredulously as they began their descent. “How does this Master Roshi guy get food or drinkable water?”

Gohan chuckled knowingly. “I’m sure you’ll find all that out during your time here.”

Goku furrowed his brow, still feeling skeptical but willing to accept that if anything, he could fly to the nearest landmass and its various towns without too much trouble.

The boy’s black shoes touched down on the soft sand and suddenly he felt very out of place in his navy blue gi.  _ ‘I feel like I should be wearing flip flops or something.’ _

Gohan stepped down from the cloud and dusted himself off. “Master Roshi? Master!?”

_ “Help!”  _

A deep, distressed voice came from somewhere on the other side of the beach. Goku quickly followed the curvature of the coast until he spotted a relatively large shape wriggling about.

_ ‘Is that a sea turtle?’ _

“Help!? Roshi? Is that you?” The turtle shook its fins and Goku realized that the poor creature was flipped onto its shell.

Goku shook himself, hurrying over and gently tipping the turtle over. “Are you alright?”

The creature, once righted, shifted itself around to look up Goku with a droopy grin. “I am now, thank you for helping me. If you hadn’t come along I’m not sure how long I would’ve been stuck like that.”

“Aw, well it was no problem. How’d you even get stuck like that in the first place?”

With a bob of his head, in what Goku assumed was meant to be a shrug, the creature sighed. “Well, I was riding a wave in and I hit myself on a rock. Before I knew it I was all turned around and surfing in on my back.”

“Well that doesn’t sound very fun,” Goku noted with a smile. “I’m glad I could help. I’m Goku, by the way!”

The turtle blinked, squinting at him as if recalling something. “Wait… you’re  _ Goku?” _ His eyes widened as he caught sight of Gine, Bardock, and Gohan. “Oh! Oh my goodness! You’re the baby! Well, you  _ were  _ a baby. You’ve gotten pretty big since I last saw you!”

Goku scratched the back of his head. “Oh, well, that’s good! My mom says I’m probably gonna be as tall as my dad when I’m older.”

“Well gosh, that’ll be something. You’re probably here to see Master Roshi, right?”

The boy nodded. “Yeah, is he home?”

“He’d better be out.  _ To think he wouldn’t hear his oldest friend crying out for help.” _

Goku smiled sympathetically. “Well, you can come wait over with me and my family if you want.”

“Turtle! Have you seen my good sunglasses?”

“Oooh!” Turtle grumbled. “I knew it!”

The front door of the small house flew open and a bald, bearded head peered out. “Turtle!? Are you out here? Tur- oh!” The man blinked. “Gohan! And uh…”

“Bardock and Gine, Master,” Gohan supplied helpfully. 

Roshi winced at Gine’s name. “Right, right. How long has it been, then?”

“Just about fifteen years, Master. Do you remember the promise you made?” Gohan shifted his gaze from Roshi to Goku. The older man followed the line of sight and paused when his eyes alighted on the young man standing next to Turtle.

Roshi hummed. “Well, I’ll be. You’ve gotten bigger! Come on closer, son, let me get a good look at you.”

Goku walked forward apprehensively. Was this really the martial artist that his grandfather venerated so much?

“Hmm, he’s got some room to grow, it looks like. Tell me, boy, are you masking your power level right now?”

He nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Why don’t you power up? Just a little bit, I want to see what I’m working with here.”

Goku looked to his parents, who both nodded and smiled at him. He nodded back and dug in his feet. His fists clenched and he felt a well of energy begin to flow from within the deepest recesses of his abdomen. With a sharp, short yell, Goku brought forth some of that power, letting it flow through him and cascade off his body in waves.

Roshi’s eyebrows rose, though that was the only physical reaction he offered.

With a frown, Goku set himself in a bit harder, the thrum of energy beginning to grow in intensity. This time the yell wasn’t quite as short, and Goku let his voice rise naturally as he unleashed a significantly larger portion of his strength. It was at this point that he remembered what his family had told him, that his power was like an aura, if he could learn to monitor his own and monitor others, he could adapt and focus his output. 

He felt his power increase until he noted that his clothes were beginning to flap as if being pushed by a large gust of wind. All around him the sand was trembling and the waves were only able to approach so close before being pushed back by some invisible force. 

Roshi smiled, giving him an approving look and raising a hand. “That’s enough, now bring it back down.”

Goku breathed in slowly before exhaling and letting his power dissipate into the air while tamping down on the well that he stored deep inside.

“Good. Very good.” Roshi turned to Goku’s family. “It just so happens this is a good time for Goku to be here. After our little deal way back when I’ve decided to… loosen up on my ‘no new students’ policy. I have some more youngsters coming in the next couple of weeks.”

Gohan gasped. “Master, that’s wonderful! The Turtle School can keep growing!”

“Eh, not too much. Just two more kids. One’s the Ox King’s squirt!”

“The Ox King! Oh, that’s wonderful!” Gohan’s smile grew wide. “Why, I haven’t seen the Ox King in years.”

Roshi chuckled. “Not since his wedding, I suppose. Well, it took him a few years but he finally had a youngster of his own.”

“What about the others?”

The oldest man shook his head. “Just one other. Some monk kid, he wore me down eventually.”

Turtle rolled his eyes and muttered something about “dirty magazines” under his breath.

“Oh quiet you. So he’s going to be around to stay?”

Gine grinned. “We hope that’s alright.”

Roshi looked a little purple as the woman spoke but nevertheless cleared his throat. “That’s fine. No problems here.”

“Good.” Bardock crossed his arms and glared at the old hermit.

Said old hermit coughed uncomfortably and gestured to his small home. “Will you all be staying? Or is it just the boy?”

Bardock and Gine shared a look before Gine spoke up. “We’re not staying. This is Goku’s journey and we just wanted to see him off.”

Roshi nodded slowly. “Right, well… I’ll just be inside and let you say goodbye for now.” With that, the old man hobbled indoors and left the small family to its privacy. 

Gohan put a reassuring hand on Goku’s shoulder before pulling the boy into a fierce hug. “You’re going to do great, son. Just… if Roshi offers to share his magazines with you… say no.” The old man winked and stepped back.

“If he gives you any trouble, you fly home, got it?” Bardock asked gruffly, putting a hand on Goku’s head and ruffling his hair. 

The boy giggled. “Got it, Dad.”

“Good boy.” Bardock knelt down on one knee and carefully pulled his son into a hug. “We’re never far away.”

Goku returned the gesture and smiled softly. “I know. I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Kakarot.”

Finally, Gine, who had been patiently waiting up till that point, barely let Goku get out of her husband's arms before she flung her own around the boy and pulled him in tight. Goku was overwhelmed by how hard his mother was squeezing him and struggled to reciprocate the hug. 

“Too tight!” he complained as he felt his body begin to groan in protest. 

“Oh!” Gine exclaimed, loosening the hug. “Sorry, sweetie.”

The boy chuckled weakly and finally was able to return the gesture. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m gonna miss you.”

Gine suppressed a sniffle as she nuzzled her boy. “I’m gonna miss you too. Be good, okay? And if you have to, be a warrior. Learn to fight how this man teaches you, but never forget you’re a Saiyan.”

“I promise.”

* * *

Goku stood on the beach until his family was out of sight before turning in to enter the small house behind him. 

“Oh yeah baby, shake it! Woo!” 

The boy froze as Roshi seemed to be dancing along with a group of scantily clad women doing some kind of… fitness workout?

“Uh… Master?”

Roshi, whose nose seemed to be leaking a little blood, turned to the boy. “Oh! You’re done!” He quickly turned the TV off and wiped his nose. “So, uh, you know how to cook?”

Goku sighed and nodded, walking toward the kitchen, suspecting that he’d just become this man’s caretaker in addition to becoming his student.

* * *

The orange gi wasn’t half bad, Goku decided as he turned to look at himself in the mirror. It was really comfortable and even had a sash sort of like the one he was used to, which gave him a space to tuck his tail into. 

He was always careful to keep it hidden when he was out in public. Sure, most people likely wouldn’t blink at seeing a monkey tail, considering there were anthropomorphic animal people all over the world—and King Furry, of course—but he still erred on the side of caution. His parents had instilled that into him from a young age.

That and telling him exactly what would happen should he look at the full moon directly, but that hadn’t exactly been a problem thus far.

“Goku! Come on down here and introduce yourself!”

The boy rushed down the steps from his small room to see two bald heads talking to each other.

“There you are!” Roshi smiled. “Goku, this is Krillin, he’s going to be joining you!” 

Goku took a moment to size up the other boy. He looked roughly the same age as him, though Krillin appeared to be just a bit shorter. Although he was bald, he had a set of six dot shaped markings arranged into two columns on his forehead. He was dressed simply in a set of orange and yellow robes and was smiling just a little smugly at Goku. 

“Nice to meet you!” Goku ventured, sticking his hand out and smiling amiably. 

Krillin seemed to size him up as well before taking the hand and shaking it. “You too, Goku. How’d you end up in Master Roshi’s tutelage?”

Goku shrugged. “My grandfather was a student here. He and my parents made a deal with Master Roshi to let me train when I got older, so… here I am!”

There was an almost imperceptible shift in Krillin’s face and Goku thought he heard something like “nepotism” whispered under his breath, though he wasn’t familiar with the word.

“Well, why don’t you show Krillin to the room you boys will be sharing, Goku? I should have another uniform for him somewhere up there.” Roshi smiled and walked toward the kitchen.

Goku smiled and gestured to the stairs behind him. “It’s not much, but we should have plenty of space.”

The two boys raced up the stairs, with Goku hoping that whatever chip seemed to be on Krillin’s shoulder would wear away with time.

* * *

The early morning air felt extra refreshing as Goku watched the sunrise the next morning. Krillin had been sleeping soundly in the bed next to his when the itch to just get outside struck the young Saiyan.

Everything about Kame house was so different from his home in the mountains, all of it so foreign. But this part wasn’t half bad; being able to look out as far as the eye could see and spot only the ocean made for an incredible sunrise and sunset.

Goku stayed in the shade of one of the palm trees and let the hours go by, his legs crossed and eyes transfixed on the horizon.

In his pseudo-meditative state, he nearly missed the small aircraft that was flying his way. Eventually it was too close to ignore and Goku rose, dusting off his orange gi and watching as the craft hovered down to land on the beach before him. He quickly raced into the house and cleared his throat. “Master Roshi! Krillin! We have visitors!”

Goku stepped back outside to see an unbelievably large man wearing a horned helmet step out of one side. Was this the next student? He seemed a little old compared to Goku and Krillin. 

Wait, no, Roshi said it was a girl?

“Chi-Chi! Come on out and introduce yourself dear!” the man called before the door on the other side of the aircraft opened and a girl in a blue cheongsam and pants stepped out. She shook her ponytail out and looked around in wonder at the island before her eyes stopped on Goku.

“Is… that Master Roshi, Dad? I thought you said he was old?”

The large man chuckled. “No, Chi-Chi, that must be one of his other students.” He stepped forward and reached a massive hand toward Goku, completely swallowing his hand in the mitt. “Nice to meet you! You can call me the Ox King!”

“G-Goku, sir! You wouldn’t happen to be the same Ox King who trained with Gohan?”

The man furrowed his brow. “Well, yes! Do you know him?”

Goku smiled. “He’s my grandfather, sir.”

“Grandf-” The Ox King reached down and pulled Goku easily into a bear hug. “Well that practically makes us family already!”

Chi-Chi smiled sympathetically from the side. “Don’t crush him, Dad, you just met him.”

With an embarrassed chuckled, the large man set Goku down and rubbed under his nose. “Sorry, got a little excited. Is Roshi up? I wanted to talk to him-” Without another word, the Ox King stepped past Goku and headed into the house, leaving Goku and Chi-Chi on the beach.

“Sorry about him,” Chi-Chi offered, reaching her own hand forward to Goku, “he gets a little excited.”

Goku laughed easily, taking the girl’s hand and shaking it. “It’s no problem, though he just might be a match for my mom in terms of hug strength.”

The girl giggled, letting her remarkably soft hand linger for a moment before withdrawing it and turning to look at the house. “Should we head in?”

Goku nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.”

_ ‘This ought to be a lot of fun,’ _ he thought to himself with a smile, following his new classmate indoors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, Matty here! Me and the boys decided since I guess I know the original dragon ball the best(which means I've seen it the most recently) I would take on the brunt of authorship for the chapters set in that time zone of the series. Already, though, I'm sure you guys can see things are a little different :)


	4. The Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Goku, Chi-Chi, and Krillin start their training with Master Roshi.

Chi-Chi adjusted the orange gi over the navy blue undershirt she had brought with her. It was clear that these uniforms were designed with men’s proportions in mind for sure, considering that she’d be flashing the others any time she tried to strike any sort of fighting pose in the top Roshi had provided. At the very least, the uniform was incredibly comfortable. 

She was mostly just glad that she had something to train in aside from the cheongsam she was accustomed to, preferring to keep that particular outfit nice for as long as possible.

With a final tug on the blue obi to keep everything in place, she began descending the stairs. Normally being up before the crack of dawn would be incredibly difficult, but she was incredibly excited to start her training under the famed martial arts teacher her father had told her about her entire life. He had been a little underwhelming at first, but she just chalked that up to appearances being deceiving. 

As she stepped into the living room, there was a momentary pause in her movement as it appeared she was the only one awake.

“...Hello?”

There was a shuffling as Roshi peeked his head out from the kitchen. “In here, missy. Those boys up yet?”

Chi-Chi shook her head, walking into the kitchen and watching as Roshi poured himself a cup of coffee. “No, I don’t think so?”

“Lazy little…” Roshi grumbled, taking a sip of the brown liquid. “Would you excuse me for a moment?” With that, he set down his mug and slowly hobbled up the stairs. 

There was quiet for a few moments, just the soft sounds of the ocean outside and a few scattered seagulls cawing. 

Suddenly there was a loud crash akin to a gong followed by a set of yelps.

“Rise and shine, boys! Time to get a move on!”

Chi-Chi winced as she heard the scattered sounds of clambering, likely the two boys struggling to get dressed in a hurry.

Roshi came down the stairs looking remarkably pleased with himself. “Should only be a moment and we can get started.”

The girl nodded, just making a mental note to keep an alarm at the ready every day.

* * *

Bardock furrowed his brow at the group of men in their strange uniforms. A red, bow-like symbol with two R’s emblazoned over.

“And you’re here for… what again, exactly?”

The man in front groaned, adjusting the strap on his machine gun. “We heard from someone in town that the old man picked up an orange ball back in the day. We want it. Make life easier for all of us and just hand it over!” 

“Right… and you want the ball for _ what _ exactly?”

The soldier’s eye twitched as he prodded Bardock with the muzzle of his weapon. “None of your business, _ Brock. _ Now hurry it up! We don’t have all day!”

Bardock suppressed his anger and let the man act tough in front of his subordinates. “Right, let me ask my wife if she’s heard of anything like that. I’m afraid my father in law is out right now.” He turned toward the house. “Gina! Honey, can you come here real quick? We have visitors!”

“That’s it,” the soldier stated, “get your woman on it. Maybe she’s more capable than you a-”

Gine’s presence in the door stopped the soldier’s train of thought. Bardock was used to this, he knew how beautiful his wife was and it was a little amusing to see the men seem to lower their guard. 

“Brock, honey, I wish you’d told me we’d have guests, I didn’t have time to make myself presentable!” Gine sing-songed, making it clear to Bardock and only Bardock that she was playing up her human persona.

“Well, they showed up by surprise, _ dear, _and they’re looking for your dad’s orange ball?”

Gine frowned, clearly suspecting the same glass ball Gohan kept with the four stars emblazed in the center. It must be valuable if these men had come looking for it, which meant it was safer out of their hands. “Well, I think I know where it is. Just give me a moment!”

The woman walked back into the house, with Bardock noticing more than one soldier’s eyes glancing down at her rear as she left. He consoled himself with a deep breath, not knowing for certain but suspecting what would come next.

When Gine returned and produced a basketball, Bardock had to suppress a laugh.

“Is this it?” she asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

The soldier in front, who had been relatively slackjawed in Gine’s presence up till then, seemed to come unhinged. He quickly pointed the muzzle of his gun back at Bardock and glared at Gine. “We know it’s here, stop playing games!”

Gine and Bardock shared a look, with the woman nodded calmly at him.

That was all the permission he needed.

Bardock snatched the gun out of the man’s hands quicker than the soldier could react and compressed it, end to end, between his two palms. The crunching of metal was quick and the sound was dampened almost immediately as it was turned into a relatively flat shape.

The smaller soldier stepped back in terror as Bardock loomed over him. “I’m afraid I don’t appreciate your tone of voice.”

One of the other soldiers quickly fired off his machine gun at the two Saiyans, with Gine stepping forward and plucking the bullets out of mid-air.

She put on a mock pout as she dropped the handful of bullets. “Well, that wasn’t very neighborly! I think we’ll have to teach you all a lesson!”

Bardock let out a laugh as he leaned down to plant a kiss on his wife’s cheek. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“Oh you have, but I like to hear you say it,” she replied with a wink.

The Saiyan man grabbed the lead soldier by the head and lifted him in the air, keeping his eyes on his wife. “Well, let me take you out for date night tonight, yeah? We deserve to treat ourselves.”

“Oh, how romantic!” Gine chirped, already rolling up her sleeves as the men in front of her noticeably trembled. “I’d love that.”

Bardock laughed, leveling his fist at the soldier who was on the verge of passing out from fear. “It’s a date.”

* * *

Goku furrowed his brow, not quite believing what he was hearing. “You want us to… deliver… milk?”

“That’s right, and we’re already running late! Now put on the shells and grab a crate! I’m giving you a lift to the drop of for now, but we’ll be moving the house later this afternoon.”

Goku shared a look with Krillin and Chi-Chi, who both shrugged at the boy before approaching their respective shells. Upon closer examination, Goku realized the shell had straps sort of like a backpack. Was this some sort of bizarre initiation ritual for the “Turtle School” of martial arts?

_ ‘Whatever,’ _he thought as he grabbed one of the straps and pulled, only to feel far more resistance than he was initially expecting. 

On either side of him, Krillin and Chi-Chi seemed to be struggling as well.

“What are these things made of!?” Krillin exclaimed as he ended up turning around, squatting down to strap his arms in an attempt to stand up in a bizarre form of squat. It took a moment but it ended up working and the bald boy was able to strain his way up to his feet. 

Roshi shrugged. “I started each of you off with one hundred pounds. I figure that should be a good start but if it ends up being too light I can break out the heavier ones. You’re all old enough to handle this so grab your crates and hop on.” With that, the old man tossed a capsule into the water, which exploded into a sturdy enough looking boat.

The two other teenagers followed Krillin’s example before grabbing their own milk crates and hobbling over to the boat. Behind them, Roshi’s small home collapsed into a capsule that he stuffed into his pocket. 

“Alright, youngsters, let’s get a move on.” Roshi walked calmly onto the boat and set it to start, revving the engines and jetting off into the ocean.

* * *

Krillin’s lungs were burning as he jogged. Between the weight of the shell on his back, the weight of the box full of glass milk bottles he was carrying, and the fact that Goku seemed completely undeterred had not only his body crying out in pain but his stomach boiling with indignation.

Where did that bastard get off? Krillin had to get references and work his ass off to get this training and for all he could tell based on the prior couple evening’s worth of conversation, Goku was just some farm boy!

At least maybe that Chi-Chi girl would commiserate with him. Plus, a bonus, she was cute!

Krillin let out a yelp as he nearly tripped on some gravel, causing the milk bottles to clink together dangerously.

“Watch out for that gravel!” Chi-Chi called back.

Krillin grumbled quietly. _ “ _ ** _Now_ ** _ you tell me.” _

* * *

Goku felt great! His body was aching, he was coated in sweat, and he felt like he could collapse at any given moment. Most likely the collapsing would be in a backward direction due to the increasingly more overwhelming heavy turtle shell on his back. 

_ And yet- _

It was day one with Master Roshi, the sun was shining, everyone he delivered milk to was so nice and friendly, and he had gotten a bag full of treats for later from the nice old lady on East Street.

West Avenue was coming up next and Goku’s milk delivery route was almost done. Judging by the light in the sky and how it was starting to warm up, morning must be almost done by now. 

_ ‘Huh, a lot of these places are named after… directions…’ _

“Weird.”

* * *

Chi-Chi’s legs felt like they might collapse underneath her as she approached Roshi and the small truck that he must have created with another capsule. 

The wizened man perked up as the girl approached. “Oh good, you’re back. Go ahead and drop the empty crate in the back.”

The girl nodded, fighting off the urge to groan as her arms finally relaxed from their slightly bent position as she set the crate down on the flatbed of the truck.

“And there’s the other two,” Roshi said suddenly, gesturing behind Chi-Chi with his cane.

Chi-Chi heard some distant footsteps and turned around. Off in the distance, wearing orange uniforms identical to hers were Goku and Krillin who appeared to be… racing?

Roshi started chuckling as Goku managed to pull ahead of Krillin, who was wearing a face of absolute indignation. Now that Chi-Chi thought about it… the bald-headed boy looked a bit like a tomato at times.

As the taller of the two boys pulled up to the truck, he flashed Chi-Chi a cheerful grin.

In spite of herself, Chi-Chi felt herself suppressing a blush. _ ‘I just- I’m not used to boys!’ _ she told herself as she looked away and pretended to be admiring some birds flying by.

“Man-” Krillin huffed as he caught up. “That’s just not fair.” The bald boy put his crate on the flatbed and made to hop in the back.

“Oh no,” Roshi called out, “it’s a good thing you got warmed up with that little race because you three are jogging behind me to the new spot where we’ll be staying.”

Chi-Chi froze.

** _“WHAT!?”_ ** the three teenagers shouted in unison, all of them staring down the old man who nodded slowly and made his way into the driver’s seat of the truck.

“You heard me. Now try not to fall behind!” 

As the truck roared to life and began pulling out of the parking spot, all three teenagers shared a look as if hoping it was all a joke before turning their gaze to the still driving truck.

Krillin was the first to react, letting out a long groan before starting to chase the truck, followed shortly by Goku and Chi-Chi, who was already starting to question her father’s insistence on this Master Roshi being “the best in the world.”

* * *

What felt like an eternity later, Goku, Krillin, and Chi-Chi caught up to the truck as it slowed to a stop atop a large cliff overlooking a forested valley. The old man turned the vehicle off, stepping out and surveying the area with a satisfied look. 

“Just like I left it.” With a flourish, he produced a capsule and Kame House burst into existence before them. “Go ahead and grab some water and get something to eat. Try not to look too tired, today’s training was just a test. I wanted to see how fast you could complete the easy route.”

Goku frowned. “That was the _ easy _ route?”

Roshi nodded with a smirk. “Oh yes. You’ll see.”

With a gulp, Goku decided he was better off just waiting and seeing rather than dreading the unknown. He followed Krillin and Chi-Chi indoors, his stomach rumbling loudly with the prospect of finally being fed.

He clamored to the fridge as the other two teenagers took turns at the tap pouring and draining glasses of water. Inside of the refrigerator was, thankfully, enough leftovers from the other night to feed him and he… assumed Chi-Chi and Krillin? He wasn’t sure what their appetites would be like. He knew from home and Grandpa Gohan’s comments that Saiyans’ had abnormally large appetites. 

As he began pulling bowls and plates out and setting them down on the counter to deposit in the microwave, he wondered how his parents and grandfather were doing right now.

* * *

Gohan sneezed as he finished his daily walk. The path up in the mountains was exceptionally lovely that morning. He found it soothing to walk around and appreciate the valley

surrounding his home. After all, most of the land was relatively uninhabited, meaning Gohan rarely had visitors.

Aside from the extra-terrestrial, that is.

Chuckling to himself at his joke, he approached the front door of his home where he spotted a piece of paper taped to the front.

With a quirk of his eyebrow, Gohan took down the paper and began reading.

** _Gohan, _ **

** _“Brock” and I are off to deal with a little group calling themselves the Red Ribbon Army. We should be home by the end of the week. I left some extra meals in the fridge and a phone in case you need us for any reason. Also, I hid the “family heirloom” and I’ll get it for you when we get back. It’s safe, don’t worry. _ **

** _Lots of love,_ **

** _“Gina”_ **

** _P.S. Hope your walk was nice! _ **

The old man furrowed his brow. Red Ribbon Army? 

What kind of ridiculous name was that?

* * *

Krillin’s hands ached as he sat through the lecture on Kantian philosophy. Why on earth did he need to learn about ethics after plowing a field with his bare hands?

He stole a glance at Goku, who at least had the decency to also look exhausted and aching from the unexpected workout.

So far, it seemed all of Roshi’s workouts were some form of menial labor. Delivering milk, doing farming…

At least it couldn’t get worse.

* * *

_ IT WAS WORSE. IT WAS SO MUCH WORSE. _

Krillin yelped as he heard a snap behind him, his arms working furiously to continue pulling himself through the water with each stroke.

Who the hell ever heard of a saltwater lake anyway!?

All he could focus on as he finished his third of ten consecutive laps in the infuriatingly shark-infested lake was that he would love nothing more than to return to the construction yard and keep working the rock with hand tools. If he made it out of this insane day’s worth of training he would never complain again.

* * *

Chi-Chi examined the rope that was currently connecting her to the same large, sturdy tree that Goku and Krillin were attached to.

“Master, I’m still not sure I understand.”

Roshi gestured with his cane to the branches up in the tree. At first, she didn’t see anything, but upon further inspection, Chi-Chi spotted an enormous beehive.

“See that?” Roshi asked, calm as could be.

Chi-Chi nodded shakily.

“Those are killer bees. Your goal?” He struck the tree, causing a loud crack to echo through the forest. “Is to not get stung.”

Another whack of the cane and Chi-Chi heard a furious buzzing begin to fill the air.

“Oh you have got to be kidding m-”

Krillin’s complaint was cut off as a swarm of bees erupted from the hive. Roshi quickly darted off faster than any man his age had any right to.

“See you all in an hour!”

Before the teenagers could protest further, they found themselves dodging stingers from every angle.

_ How was this training!? _

* * *

Roshi watched the three teenagers drag their feet back into Kame House, all of them collapsing around the dinner table.

The old man suppressed a laugh as he produced the extra-large rice steamer and began ladling out large helpings of food. “Now, don’t eat too fast or you’ll choke-”

His warning went completely unheeded as each of the three teenagers began shoveling food down their mouths.

“...Ah well, can’t say I blame you.” Roshi took his seat and began slowly eating his own bowl of rice. “You know, normally I do a bit of testing to check your speed, endurance, stamina. Instead of doing that today, I decided to give you a taste of what’s to come.”

Goku pounded his chest, reaching for a glass of water to help the clump of food go down. “-Will we do the tests?”

Roshi hummed. “Tell you what. We can do them tomorrow. We’ll skip milk delivery. I’ll call and let the distribution guys know it’s a one-day thing and I’ll give you all a test.”

Krillin swallowed a mouthful of his own meal. “Will you explain these weird exercises to us?”

“Hmm, I think that after the test I might.” Roshi shrugged. “Or I might not and let the proof become apparent after. For now, dig in, wash up, and go to bed. I’m gonna go watch my stories.”

Roshi took his bowl, walked to the fridge, grabbed a beer, and strode into the living room. Turning on the TV to the aerobics channel just in time to catch Cindy’s evening aerobics follow along workout.

The old man felt his face flush as he admired the woman’s curves, oblivious to the confused and judgemental stares he was receiving from his three pupils.

“I do love my stories.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #notdead  
Sorry

**Author's Note:**

> And now, a note from the authors.
> 
> Titus: Hey guys, this is a fun little side project the three of us have been brainstorming for a little bit now. I hope you enjoy and let us know what you think!
> 
> Matty: I'm sorry
> 
> Epsi: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


End file.
